snowball

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   snow pressed into a ball for throwing

   The snow was wet without being heavy -- the best kind for making snowballs.

2. 2
   noun

   Something that snowballs (grows rapidly out of control).

   Representatives of the small airlines that felt betrayed by Brown's policy started a political snowball rolling, resulting in the Airmail Act of 1934...

3. 3
   noun

   A small cake, typically cream-filled and covered in chocolate icing and desiccated coconut.

   It didn't take long to eat a packetful of snowballs — they are simply delicious.

4. 4
   adj

   Of something with rapid growth, often uncontrolled. Compare snowball effect.

   Scandal, with her, did not lose any of its usual snowball propensities, of gathering as it went.

5. 5
   verb

   To rapidly grow out of proportion or control, from an initially smaller state.

   The high unemployment rates quickly snowballed into a major budget problem for the government.

6. 6
   noun

   ball of crushed ice with fruit syrup

7. 7
   noun

   ball of ice cream covered with coconut and usually chocolate sauce

8. 8
   noun

   plant having heads of fragrant white trumpet-shaped flowers

Etymology

From Middle English snoweball, snoweballe, snaweballe, snayballe, equivalent to snow + ball. Cognate with Scots snawbaw, German Schneeball, Luxembourgish Schnéiball, Dutch sneeuwbal, Afrikaans sneeubal, Limburgish snieëbal, West Frisian sniebal, Saterland Frisian Sneebaal, Sneebal, Swedish snöboll, Elfdalian sniųoboll, Danish snebold, Norwegian Bokmål snøball, Norwegian Nynorsk snøball and Icelandic snjóbolti.